cloudy water

[moorish#1]

i have a bit of cloudy water and i dont know why. i have a sump protein skimmer and all the right lighting. what would anyone highly recommend and money is no a problem just need crystal clear water. thanks :help:
72 gal bowfront reef ready
coral life 48 in lights
sump

 

[tangs123]

have you ever thought about a UV sterilizer,
they are supposed to help with free floating algea,
or just do a water change,
or try using PHOS-Ban or something else to lower the phosphates in the aquarium

 

[moorish#1]

ive seen the uv sterilzer but have been told that they are not needed. i want the most precise advice if you can help me out. i'm sure you've been in this hobby for a long time. if you could give me a setup as to what you would recommend i should have in my tank and the places where i can find them i will follow your advice.

 

[tangs123]

do you use RO water?

 

[moorish#1]

no i dont. i just have a sump with a protein skimmer.

 

[some1fishy]

Try running some carbon in your filter. Ususally works in clearing up the water. The UV kills all free floating bacteria/cells. So microscopic, you will not see with the

[hr]
eye. I use on my system, and I believe it helps. I run a 18 watt gamma unit.
But my reccomendation that is the most inexpensive is the carbon. some filters have pads with them already in it, some have to be placed in. Depending on your system, I'd try that 1st.
JM .02

 

[some1fishy]

u dont run a mechanical filter?

 

[tangs123]

you might have added water that has high phosphates then, you could should buy a Phosphate test kit to see how high it is
if you have high Phosphates the algea will grow like crazy

 

[moorish#1]

no all i have in my sump is that bulk pad which the water cycles through and then goes through the bio balls. i am willing to spend money on something that is going to totally clean out my system. i know theres other ways around it but it ok.

 

[moorish#1]

how do you lower the phosphate level. decrease amount of food supplied?

 

[some1fishy]

phosphate sponge. It is a pellet like material you put in a bag or a reactor

 

[some1fishy]

in your sump, can you add a carbon filter pad in lieu of the one you have now? Carbon works best for water clarity.

 

[some1fishy]

dumb question here, but how new is your tank?

 

[moorish#1]

does it have to be placed where the original pad is at or can i place it next to the return pump?

 

[some1fishy]

if you can place it at the out flow of your sump, you are recieving directly filtered carbon water, which in my opinion is good.

 

[moorish#1]

its about a month old, but keep in mind i withdrew about 25 gallons from my old tank that had been up for 2 yrs and mixed it with another environment. my salt level is at 1.023. checked once a week

 

[some1fishy]

Moorish, I'd say the carbon filter pad. Its only about 5-8 bucks. fairly inexpensive trial and error procedure. Good luck and let us know how you make out!

 

[aredmon]

What color is the cloud? if it is a white haze look it could be a bateria build up. Do a search for this stuff called algone. They have a big web sight. This will help. It will also help with any alge problems, or possible algae problems. Also I agree with the carbon. Give it a try and a phosphate sponge or also called phosphate remover of some kind. The phosphate remover will help out all the time.

 

[sagxman]

Also, I would start using RO water. If you don't have access to a LFS that sells RO water and you don't want to buy an RO unit, you can get RO water at many grocery stores.

 

[moorish#1]

yea kinda looks like that i thought it was from the light. thanks